


Mistletoe

by Nakira Taisho (nakirataisho)



Series: Miraculous One-Shots [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakirataisho/pseuds/Nakira%20Taisho
Summary: A Christmas Party is interrupted by feelings and an Akuma...





	Mistletoe

It was another unusual incident. Chloe had invited Marinette to a Black Tie type Christmas party. But because it was Christmas and Adrien had asked her if she'd be there, she got dressed up in the dress she'd made with some flowery brocade and started the walk to Le Grand Paris. A familiar silver car pulled up as she started walking (her heels tucked safely in a large bag along with a small gift she'd made for the exchange later on) and the window rolled down to reveal both Adrien and his father. She blinked in surprise at seeing Gabriel Agreste out and about for something other than a fashion show.

"You going to Chloe's party?" Adrien asked her lightly, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Well…yes…," she mumbled. He opened the door and offered his free hand.

"Can we give you a ride?" he offered, giving a familiar grin. She paused, glancing at Gabriel. The man nodded a little before turning his attention to a tablet.

"Um…sure," she said softly, taking Adrien's hand. He helped her into the car and shut the door for her before slipping into the middle seat and buckling in. Marinette blushed a little at the proximity as she buckled herself in and the car started off again.

They arrived at the hotel and Adrien reached across to open the door before Marinette could even reach for the handle. She heard Gabriel chuckle softly before he got out of the car as well. She swallowed nervously, biting back whatever stream of gibberish might have come out of her mouth if she let it, and got out of the car. As Adrien stepped onto the curb, she changed shoes and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. The car door clicked shut and Adrien stepped in front of her, offering his arm like a gentleman in an old film.

She giggled a little and gave a small curtsy before taking his arm. Her gesture brought a wide grin to his face and she blushed a little as he escorted her into the building. All eyes turned to them and she lowered her gaze, her cheeks flaming. She was sure they looked like one of those couples in the old films arm in arm like that. She spotted Alya and Nino to the side and both of them made gestures of approval.

The rest of the guests arrived as they dropped their gifts with the rest at the base of the huge tree in the center of the lobby. The music started and Adrien backed away from her, giving a lavish bow before offering his hand.

"May I have this dance?" he asked in a princely tone, causing her to laugh.

"Of course!" she told him, curtsying again and taking his hand. They started dancing and her heart started racing. It was like the last party Chloe had thrown. They made a few rounds around the room and she was sure that the crowd parted to give them room as Adrien led her through a grand waltz full of spins and lifts. The song ended all too quickly and they paused to catch their breath, almost close enough to kiss. She worried her lip a little and looked up. Her breath caught at the sight of mistletoe hanging right over their heads.

"What's wrong?" Adrien asked, following her gaze. "Huh…Mistletoe."

"Yeah…," she mumbled as he looked back at her. "You know…Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it…," she laughed, recalling the fact from her research on plants for her rooftop garden.

"But…," he started, smirking. "A kiss can be deadlier if you mean it," he laughed, stealing a kiss before she could respond. Her eyes went wide and she was sure she heard a few startled gasps from nearby. He backed up after a second and she pushed him away before fleeing into the elevator.

She pressed the button for the highest floor available and leaned against the wall. As the doors slid closed, she caught a glimpse of Alya running towards the elevator. She touched her lips dumbly and Tikki flew out of her bag, looking worried. She couldn't find the words to describe what she was feeling. Adrien had kissed her. Her crush had made the first move. Sure, he'd probably only done it because of the mistletoe, but he'd still kissed her.

The elevator stopped and she stepped out into the hallway. Numbly, she went to the next elevator and went up to the roof. The snow was ankle deep here, and she'd left her coat in the lobby. She shivered a little and went to the rail.

"Marinette…you'll catch a cold out here," Tikki chastised. "I know that was serious, but—"

"Tikki, shush," she hissed, spotting something in the distance. Someone had been akumatized on Christmas Eve again by the look of the explosions. Sure enough, one of her phones went off with a crime alert. "Again? Really?" she groaned. "Tikki…Spots On." She transformed and flung her yoyo to go to the scene.

When she got to the source of the explosions, it seemed like the villain had moved on. She checked one of the scorched spots on the nearby wall and sniffed at the residue. It smelled almost floral. She looked around for witnesses and found someone trapped in an overturned vehicle. She opened her yoyo and used it as a phone to call for an ambulance before she rushed to help the person.

"What happened?" she asked when the civilian was freed and in a safe position on the ground.

"I don't know. I just saw someone in a mask throwing flowers around and then something blew my car over…"

"Flowers…?" she mumbled as an ambulance arrived. "That explains the smell…"

"Thanks, Ladybug," an EMT greeted as they got the victim onto a gurney and into the vehicle.

"You guys will probably be busy for a little while…until I catch this villain at least…and be on the lookout for explosive flowers," she warned before swinging to a rooftop and calling Chat Noir. Of course, he didn't answer, and she put her yoyo away, frowning deeply. She saw several more explosions, and they seemed to be heading towards the hotel she'd just come from. Surely Chloe hadn't bullied another person into being a victim of Hawkmoth on a holiday.

She shook off that worry and followed the villain, trying to confront them before they got to the party. She spotted the person and landed in front of them. A tall woman stood in the middle of the street, wearing a green bodice and giant red petals for a skirt with dark green heeled boots and poinsettia and mistletoe ornaments all over her body and in her hair. One thing stood out to her as she looked the villain over: a familiar looking brooch on her left breast. It was one of the Miraculous replicas from that jewelry store Lila had bought her charm from. Specifically a replica of the _Moth_ Miraculous. That had to be where the Akuma was hiding, since it didn't make sense with this villain's floral theme.

"Ladybug!" the woman laughed and she tried to place the voice. Whoever this woman was, Marinette didn't know her. If she was lucky, that meant that Chloe wasn't responsible for this one.

"What do you want?" she asked calmly, trying to see if reasoning with the woman would deter her.

"None of your business!" the villain shouted, pulling a poinsettia out of her hair. Ladybug braced herself for the explosion she assumed would come, planning to dodge at the last second and swing around while the smoke covered her to knock the woman down. When the woman threw the flower, it exploded into a terrible smelling smoke.

It burned her throat and she started coughing. She stumbled back, trying to get away from the smoke. It seemed to cling to her and she pulled out her yoyo, spinning it to try and clear the air. That barely helped, and her eyes began to sting. She decided to retreat and swung her yoyo to leave the area.

"You're not going anywhere, Ladybug! Not with your Miraculous at least!" the villain shouted, and something struck her from behind. Her yoyo caught on something and she tugged to get away, landing in an undignified heap on a roof. Coughing raggedly, she looked to see what she'd been struck with. A dart adorned with holly berries was stuck in her suit leg and she quickly yanked it out of the fabric. She swore under her breath as everything started to blur. The dart must have been poisoned and pierced more than her suit.

"Ladybug?!" Chat Noir called from nearby. She started to call out to him, but the poison took hold and she lost consciousness. When she came to, the first thing she saw was green and black. Her eyes focused and she realized that she was looking at Chat Noir. She gasped sharply and sat up quickly. Everything began spinning and she put her hand to her forehead. "Ladybug, are you okay? What happened?" Chat asked.

"Poison dart…," she mumbled, glad to see that she was still transformed. She must not have been unconscious long enough to lose her transformation. "Another victim of Hawkmoth…"

"What happened? You sound like you've got a cold…"

"Smoke bomb…," she sighed, taking stock of herself. Her eyes and throat were still burning from the smoke, and her head was spinning from the dart's poison. "Ugh…this one's gonna be tough…"

"Well, you should take a few minutes to recover…"

"I'll be fine. She also has explosives," she told him.

"Well, maybe with two of us, we can take care of this and get back to Christmas…"

"Right…," she coughed a little and got up. "She was heading towards Le Grand Paris…"

"There's a Christmas party going on there…we've gotta keep her from hurting the guests there…"

"Yeah. Let's go." She swung her yoyo.

"I should go ahead and try and hold her off…you look like you need a few more minutes…"

"I'll be fine," she argued. "There have already been several people taken to the hospital…we need to take care of this before more people get hurt…" _or worse_.

"I guess you're right…," he sighed. "I still think you need some time to recover…"

She gave him a look and swung towards an explosion. Chat Noir followed her and they landed behind the villainess. She swung her yoyo around the woman's wrist and pulled her to the ground.

"The Akuma's in the brooch on her bodice. Let's finish this quickly before she can manage to poison either of us…"

"Right. Then maybe you should go ahead with your holiday Charm," he said lightly and winked at her before running at the woman with his baton extended.

She nodded and called for a Lucky Charm. A bottle of craft glue landed in her hand and she frowned deeply. What was she supposed to do with this? She cast her eyes around her surroundings, but couldn't think of any way to use the glue. She spotted the woman reach into her hair again and it came to her. She could use the glue, but how to get it on her target?

"Chat Noir, look out! She pulls her explosives out of her hair!" she called to her partner. "Use your Cataclysm!" she gasped, wondering how she hadn't thought of it before this moment.

"Okay?" he questioned, jumping away from the villain. "Cataclysm!"

"Here's hoping this works…we only have one shot…," she muttered, throwing the bottle at the enemy. Chat Noir caught her intent and caught the bottle with his magically charged hand. "Throw it!" He nodded and threw the weakened bottle of glue at the villain. The bottle exploded as it struck her and she was covered in white glue.

"You'll pay for that!" she shouted as she reached again into her hair. Just as planned, the woman's hand stuck to her head. "What!?" she screeched and got herself stuck in an awkward position as she tried to free a weapon from her hair. Ladybug ran up to her and snatched the brooch, not wanting to make Chat Noir do the deed.

"I don't know what the problem was…but you're done terrorizing Paris tonight…," she sighed, crushing the brooch in her hand. The Akuma was freed and she quickly moved to capture and purify it before fixing everything. She fist bumped Chat Noir.

"Quick thinking there…as usual," he laughed. "Well…Merry Christmas, Milady."

"Merry Christmas, Chat," she told him. Then she spotted a bit of Mistletoe directly above them on a lamp post. A quick glance around showed that someone had put the stuff on every lamp post on that street.

"Mistletoe," Chat noted. "You know…Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it."

"A kiss…," she started, thinking about what Adrien had said before stealing a kiss at the hotel. "Can be even deadlier…if you mean it…" She then pecked Chat Noir on the cheek to satisfy the Mistletoe tradition. His eyes went wide and she smirked. Both of their Miraculous beeped in warning and she stepped away from Chat Noir. "Gotta go…see you next time."

"Wait, Marinette," he gasped. She froze in the middle of pulling out her yoyo.

"What did you just say…?" she whispered.

"You're Marinette, right?" he asked softly.

"What makes you think that?" she asked carefully. She hadn't done anything to give away her identity, she thought. But if she thought about it, Chat Noir had said the exact thing about Mistletoe that she'd told Adrien. And if she thought about it, it would make sense for him to be Adrien. "No way…Adrien?"

"Yeah…," he laughed. Another beep from their Miraculous made Ladybug shake her head.

"We should get back to the hotel…," she reminded him. "They might start making assumptions if we're gone much longer."

"Right…," he agreed, using his baton to go quickly back to the hotel. She followed suit, returning to the roof where she'd transformed in the first place. A quick glance around the area told her she was alone, so she dropped her transformation and headed for the elevator. Adrien was waiting at the landing. "So what now?"

"Did you just kiss me because of the mistletoe?" she asked him, still trying to figure out if the revelation about his identity was a good or bad thing.

"It was a good excuse to do it…," he laughed. "But are you disappointed…that I'm Chat Noir?"

"I'm not sure what to think just yet…we'll figure it out. For now…let's go back to the party."

"Yeah," he agreed, heading for the elevator to the ground floor. She followed him and pressed the button for the lobby when the elevator arrived.


End file.
